BHUBANESHWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today set a target for construction of 2000 kilometers of concrete road in the rural areas of the state under the Gopabandhu Grameen Yojana (GGY) by March, 2017.
The chief minister today reviewed the implementation of GGY at a high-level meeting in the state secretariat here. The state government has extended GGY to all the 30 districts after the Centre stopped funding of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) from the 2015-16.
The state government has made a provision of `1000 crore for the implementation of the scheme in 2016-17. Projects to be undertaken with the funds include construction of rural roads, provision of drinking water and electrification.
The chief minister directed the panchayatiraj to give priority to hamlets inhabited by Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and tribal dominated villages in the implementation of the projects.
Among others, minister of state for panchayatiraj Arun Sahu, chief secretary AP Padhi, development commissioner R Balakrishnan and senior officials attended the meeting.